I currently run the Sony 5000 radio, the MMats 4110 amp and 4 MMats PA601.4CX speakers in the stock locations (fairing and tour pak) on my 2016 Road Glide Ultra. I am considering adding the Hogtunes pods to my lowers (wet head) and adding another set of speakers.

My first question is, should i wire my lowers in parallel with my fairing speakers off the front 2 channels of my amp or get a 2nd amp to run the lowers.

My second question is speaker choice for this location. I know I have a full MMats setup right now but it just kinda worked out that way and I do not have to stick with that theme, although I am very happy with the sound I get from my current speakers. I am just looking for a bit more of it.

I would say this would be stage 2 of ??? I will probably be looking at 8" lids some time down the road as well. You guys know how this spirals out of control.

Another route I may go is to move my fairing speakers down to the lowers and do a driver/horn set up in the fairing. I have a set of the Boom speaker grills I can cut and mount the horns/tweeters in.

I don't have a budget in mind at this time. I am just looking for the best bang for my buck (pardon the pun) and weighing the pros and cons of the different strategies to expand my audio system.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Do those Boom grills sit flat or do they protrude out towards rider. If they are
flat you may have clearance issues with woofer. Look at the Hog tunes grills as they
bump out some. I would go with a second amp to run lowers.

 

Ditto the second amp for sure. I had my lowers in parallel at first and didn't like it at all. I just couldn't blend them properly. Typically you are going to have to play your lowers louder than your fairing speakers to hear them because your fairing speakers are closer and pointed at your head. I don't have any experience with a sharknose setup though so your setup may differ. I am using plain MMats 601.4 pa speakers in my lowers and like them fine. I get plenty of highs from the fairing and rears.

To balance things out on the fly I just put an RCA level control under the switch plate with the preamps going to the amp channel that the fairing speakers are on so if they get to overpowering the lowers I can dial them down a bit. The fairing and lowers are on the front of the head unit fader control and my tour pak and lid speakers are on the rear.

 

Does anyone have any opinions on me moving the fairing speakers to the lowers and doing a driver/horn set up in the fairing? Would the NVX VADM4 be a good choice to power a set of MMats 601.4 and DTX26T horns? Again, I am not determined to have a MMats only system, I have just been happy with the sound quality I have so far.

 

Yes that amp should work just fine for that

 

Thanks Frenchie! What do you think about effort vs output? Do you think the effort to do the driver/horn set up would be worth it over just adding another set of coax? I would think if I went the driver/horn direction I would also have to look at running a DSP. If I just add the PA601CX I think I could get away without the DSP as I already have 4 of them tuned to my liking. Thoughts?

 

With a stock HU, a BT355 and no other way to EQ a PA speaker you would definitely want a DSP.

 

SBates, I am running a Sony 5000 and I am currently using that to set the HPF for the 4 MMats coax.

 

Does it have separate front and rear crossovers? If not you're still in the same boat.

The only other option is to use the HPF setting on the amp.

 

No only one set of crossovers on the Sony. My plan was to keep all tuning the same if I were to add 2 more of the exact same speakers. That's really what I'm asking though. Will the driver/horn setup be significantly better than just adding another set of coax? Will it be worth the effort of fitting the horns and the extra tuning involved in this route to include possibility adding a DSP to the mix?